The ability to determine the presence of an analyte in a sample is of significant benefit. For example, many metals and metal ions, such as lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic, pose significant health risks when present in drinking water supplies. To prevent the contamination of drinking and other water supplies, it is common to test industrial waste-streams before their release to the water treatment plant. Biological fluids, such as blood and those originating from body tissues, also may be tested for a variety of analytes to determine if the body has been exposed to harmful agents or if a disease state exists. For example, the need to detect trace amounts of anthrax in a variety of samples has recently emerged.
Colorimetric methods are commonly used for the detection of metals and ions in soil, water, waste-streams, biological samples, body fluids, and the like. In relation to instrument based methods of analysis, such as atomic absorption spectroscopy, colorimetric methods tend to be rapid and require little in the way of equipment or user sophistication. For example, colorimetric tests are available to aquarists that turn darker shades of pink when added to aqueous samples containing increasing concentrations of the nitrate (NO3−) ion. In this manner, colorimetric tests show that the analyte of interest, such as nitrate, is present in the sample and also may provide an indicator of the amount of analyte in the sample through the specific hue of color generated. While conventional colorimetric tests are extremely useful, they only exist for a limited set of analytes, and often cannot detect very small or trace amounts of the analyte.
As can be seen from the above description, there is an ongoing need for colorimetric sensor systems that can identify trace amounts of a broader scope of analytes and that increase the reliability of the analysis.